HTML5 block-quote with author

Html Problem Overview

Hi I'm seeing a great number of different ways to implementat blockquote in html but it doesn't seem clear in its documentation how should I properly format a blockquote let's say of a famous quote and metion its author like:

> In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it. > > Napoleon Bonaparte

What would the correct format of that be in HTML5?

Should the author be inside or outside the blockquote tag? Should it be inside the cite attribute? (even knowing the documentation specifies an URI , not author)

Html Solutions

Solution 1 - Html

I googled about this and it looks like <figure> and <figcaption> should do the job:

<figure>
  <blockquote cite="https://developer.mozilla.org/samples/html/figure.html">
    Quotes, parts of poems can also be a part of figure.
  </blockquote>
  <figcaption>MDN editors</figcaption>
</figure>

https://developer.mozilla.org/samples/html/figure.html

<figure>
  <blockquote cite="http://www.w3.org/html/wg/drafts/html/master/grouping-content.html#the-figure-element">
    The figure element represents some flow content, optionally with a caption,
    that is self-contained and is typically referenced as a single unit from the
    main flow of the document.
  </blockquote>
  <figcaption>asdf</figcaption>
</figure>

http://www.w3.org/html/wg/drafts/html/master/grouping-content.html#the-figure-element

Solution 2 - Html

UPDATE 2020

WHATWG says about the blockquote element

> Attribution for the quotation, if any, must be placed outside the > blockquote element.

WHATWG says about the cite element

> The cite element represents the title of a work (e.g. a book, a paper, > [...])

> A person's name is not the title of a work [...] and the element must > therefore not be used to mark up people's names.

So the following HTML it's fine:

<blockquote>
 <p>In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>— Napoleon Bonaparte</p>

OLD POST 2018

HTML 5.3 Editor’s Draft, 9 March 2018

W3C says about the cite element:

> The cite element represents a reference to a creative work. It must > include the title of the work or the name of the author (person, > people or organization) or an URL reference, or a reference in > abbreviated form as per the conventions used for the addition of > citation metadata.

So the following HTML it's fine:

<blockquote>
    Those who pass by us, do not go alone, and do not leave us alone; 
    they leave a bit of themselves, and take a little of us.
    <cite>Antoine de Saint-Exupéry</cite>
</blockquote>

Solution 3 - Html

This is how Bootstrap does quotes in v3.3.

<blockquote>
  <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer posuere erat a ante.</p>
  <footer>Someone famous in <cite title="Source Title">Source Title</cite></footer>
</blockquote>

More on the footer element from MDN: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/footer

> The HTML <footer> Element represents a footer for its nearest > sectioning content or sectioning root element (i.e, its nearest parent > <article>, <aside>, <nav>, <section>, <blockquote>, <body>, <details>, > <fieldset>, <figure>, <td>). A footer typically contains information > about the author of the section, copyright data or links to related > documents.

You may also consider using Structured Data, such as microdata, RDFa, and microformats.

Solution 4 - Html

http://neilpie.co.uk/2011/12/13/html5-quote-attribution/

For example, use

<small class="author">Napoleon Bonaparte<small>

HTML 5 documentation says, "Small print typically features disclaimers, caveats, legal restrictions, or copyrights. Small print is also sometimes used for attribution, or for satisfying licensing requirements."

Solution 5 - Html

My preference and it validates...

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head><title>Blockquote Test</title></head>
<body>

<div style="width:300px;border:1px solid #cecece; padding:10px;">

<blockquote cite="URL">
In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it.
</blockquote>
<div class="credit" style="text-align:right;">
<cite><a href="URL">Napoleon Bonaparte</a></cite>
</div>

</div>

</body>
</html>

Solution 6 - Html

This can be covered by Bootstrap 4 <footer class="blockquote-footer"> element:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.2.1/css/bootstrap.min.css">
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/popper.js/1.14.6/umd/popper.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.2.1/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>

<blockquote class="blockquote">
  <p>In the digital age, knowledge is our lifeblood. And documents are the DNA of knowledge.</p>
  <footer class="blockquote-footer">Rick Thoman, CEO, <cite title="Xerox Corporation">Xerox</cite></footer>
</blockquote>

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	zanona	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Html	iGEL	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Html	SandroMarques	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Html	skibulk	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Html	Mat D	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - Html	justinlabenne	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - Html	Penny Liu	View Answer on Stackoverflow